SEA-EYE 4 rescues 31 people – including mother and baby
After one of the rescue operations, the so-called Libyan coastguard repeatedly tried to intimidate the crew of the civilian rescue vessel
During three operations on July 16th and 17th, 2024, the SEA-EYE 4 rescued a total of 31 people from distress at sea: At around five in the morning on Tuesday, the rescue ship’s crew spotted and evacuated three people in a small wooden fishing boat, which had neither life-saving equipment nor modern navigation equipment. While waiting for instructions from the Italian authorities, the crew spotted another wooden boat in distress around midday and rescued 20 people, including a mother and her baby. The following day, early in the afternoon, the SEA-EYE 4 responded to a distress call from an aircraft that had spotted a fibreglass boat with eight people in distress and also brought them to safety.
“Some of those rescued are in poor health, and a few are in critical condition. These people need medical attention as soon as possible. It is an imposition on them that we have again been assigned such a distant port,” says Ayesha Sattar, on-board doctor on the SEA-EYE 4 for German Doctors e.V.
Shortly after the second rescue on July 16th, the so-called Libyan coastguard arrived and tried to intimidate the crew of the SEA-EYE 4:
“After we had rescued the people, the so-called Libyan coastguard set fire to the empty boat and circled us twice with sirens blaring. They asked us to leave the area – even though they are not legally authorised to do so in international waters – and followed us for a long time. This is a clear intention to intimidate us and to cause more distress to people already in a vulnerable situation. These actions have nothing to do with assisting people in distress at sea”, says Julie Schweickert, head of mission on board the SEA-EYE 4, describing the situation.
The so-called Libyan Coast Guard intercepts refugees in the Mediterranean and returns them to civil war-torn Libya. It is funded in part by the European Union. UN experts have already accused the EU of aiding and abetting the crimes of the so-called Libyan coastguard.
The so-called Libyan coastguard repeatedly acts in an extremely aggressive and violent manner, which has already led to the death of people. In Libya, refugees are threatened with imprisonment in so-called detention camps, where they are subjected to serious human rights violations.
The Italian authorities have ordered the SEA-EYE 4 to disembark the survivors at the port of Ortona, in the province of Chieti. In doing so, the authorities are accepting that the SEA-EYE 4 will have to travel a long way and will be absent from the area of operation for days at a time when its rescue capabilities are urgently needed. The rescue vessel is expected to arrive in port on Saturday evening.
